wagonist

You've tapped into the wrong brake light wire. Those models that had the brake light fail warning lamp have 2 brake light signal wires (on RHD models, this is the right side lamp, I'm not sure if this is reversed for the LHD models). There is the wire from the brake pedal to the lamp, and then one wire out of that lamp to the other side lamp. You need to get the one from pedal to the lamp, not the one going between the 2 lamps. This then taps in before the "sensor" thingy, not after it. BTW, this extra wire On the sedans, the wire just goes across the back of the car. for the wagons, it goes forward to the back seat & then runs across the back floor and then to the back.

This sounds exactly like the problem I had doing an 85 JDM turbo halfcut transplant. I'd labelled 1 wire wrong & thought it was an earth wire. On the ignition coil, check the negative terminal. There should be at least 1 or 2 yellow wires fitted to it. one will be the tacho feed, another will be tacho feed for the A/C system. Although this may differ depending on how Subaru US wired up the A/C. Also look for a black wire with a similar small loop on the end. This is the spark firing signal for the ECU. It should be also connected to the negative side of the coil. Without it, the ECU won't let the engine start as it doesn't know when to fire the injectors.

agree. On the 4wd models, the nuts should be torqued up as the shaft is spinning with the wheel. Different for the rear end of the 2wd model. Sounds like the pads grabbing to me also. The rear drums are self adjusting. I've seen it done where the pads were backed right off, and then you simply press on the brake pedal to bring them in far enough. But double check this, cos all of my cars have had the disc brake rear end.

I guess in the 80s, copper prices weren't so bad But it's also wasteful. If you look at the thickness of the wires in the Loyale vs a Legacy, they are all much bigger, and hence the differing fuse ratings. The only problem with the new system of wiring is you need so many different rating spare fuses, and then if use one, and then forget to replace it, you end up stuck somewhere

You were saying? Attached pic is from a 92 model. I'm guessing the charge "fuse" is in the engine bay & is one of the 3 (or 4 depending on model) fusible links

Link please for the alignment. These are old enough now that most suspension shops have no idea how to adjust them.

why not ruparts? Using the SPFI wiring, sensors & throttle body (which I'm guessing has the SPFI injector in it) & not having the MPFI injectors connected to anything (plugging up the fuel line hole), it'll just run as a twin port SPFI. Maybe need to change over the MPFI distributor for the SPFI also (I don't know enough about the SPFI to know if they're the same or not) If blanking ports existed for the MPFI injectors, then they could be removed altogether.

Just spitballing here as I've never seen a SPFI motor (Subaru never bothered selling them here, and kind of rightly so in my opinion ), but could the SPFI throttle body fit to the MPFI manifold? Then just use the SPFI wiring, etc leaving the MPFI injectors fitted (to seal the holes), but unplugged.

It'd be cos nearly every male smokes in Japan, especially in the 80s. My halfcut had the ashtray full of used butts plus 1 Yen coins...

In terms of the instrument cluster, the only difference is the shifter position for the auto. Completely unnecessary, use your eyes & look at the gearstick. I'm really surprised no one else has mentioned the neutral safety switch. This is so the car will only start when the auto is in neutral or park. VERY IMPORTANT You'll need to interecept the starter motor wire from between the ignition switch & starter motor. I'm not sure where the switch is, but for the 3AT I'm guessing on the gearstick itself. If you've already got a 3AT gearstick, you'll see 2 wires that are thicker than the rest. Connect one to the ignition switch & the other to the starter motor. You'll also need to run an illumination wire from the dashboard to the selector. Again, this is a safety item so you know which gear is being selected at night. If you want, run both so that this light dims with the rest of the dash, but it's not necessary.

All the ones I've had only ever had blue fuses with the odd yellow one. Maybe we got bigger alternators here Before this thread was started, was the fuse panel cover read? With the Legacy (which has a lot thinner wiring), Subaru went to a heap of different fuse ratings. But it's damn handy to have a lot of the same one, especially when you've blown 2 by accident & have no spares. Just remove one from a non essential function and hope that there's not an extra circuit hooked in that's not labelled... (like power mirrors )

I don't understand the problem? Is this car a Loyale or the older shape? Pre 87 had a 20A fuse for the central locking & another for the rear demister Post 87 changed to 2x 15A fuses for the rear demist If your's is a DL, it won't have central locking, so its supposed to only have 15A fuses.

The EJ rear diff will bolt directly in if you unbolt the front diff carrier & swap it over. You're going to need to: learn to weld find a friend who can weld pay someone to weld It's not just the tailshaft that'll need modifying, but also the shifter rod. And to clarify, I'm guessing you're using a single range EJ (I know that nearly all of them are over there, but it's the opposite over here). To do the trans cross-member, a good start is to use the Brat's manual front cross member, a Brat (or from same style bodyshell) auto rear crossmember (I turn one upside down in my 88 Loyale) & get a thick-ish plate welded between them.

If you're looking for a dual range trans, look for a rod that goes into the right side (passenger for you) rear of the trans, then comes out again & joins to a lever on the side above where the driveshaft comes out. All dual range trans come with these. If it then also has a vacuum diaphragm(?) on the other side of the box with a cable over the top of the trans connected to a lever down near the back, then you've got a full-time, with dual range, otherwise it'll be a part-time 4wd (ie front wheel drive normally, then 4wd). US never got dual range after 88? We continued to get them here until 94, but they changed to a 3.7 diff ratio

You can access all of this stuff by removing the trim in the back. It's not difficult to change, just a bit fiddly cos of the limited space. It would be best to change it, as it's designed to cope with the expansion of fuel in the tank as it warms up, not for emissions. I think you idea might end up with you dripping fuel out of the back of the car. As a short term fix, there's a line running in & another out, so you'd want to make sure you divert both at the least, otherwise you might end up with fuel vapours in the cabin. Not sure how you got with the condition of spares in your area, but have a scour around the wrecking yards.

There should already be a rubbere grommet in the firewall for this. The 85 models came with a manual choke. I was going to say it's beside the clutch cable hole, but your cars are backwards I've still yet to figure out how the clutch cable is setup on the LHD cars

yes, you can't slip it by hand (unless the centre is stuffed) If you don't like this, I'll take it off your hands

Yes, just climb in from the back seat & pull the tailgate trim off. Check for broken piece lodged in the locking mechanism. I had this happen to a Toyota wagon I own. Couldn't figure it out till we took the catch out & turned it upside down & a piece fell out. Other than that, just sounds like it's gummed up over the years. Give it a good lube.

first option: keep calling other locksmiths. Sounds like they simply think its too hard a job. next case, unscrew the shroud around the steering column You'll now have exposed the lock mechanism thats bolted around the shaft. The bolts they use have special heads that snap off once they're tight enough. I'm not sure if there's 2 or 4 on these cars. If you've got enough access to these, then get a drill & try to drill out the heads enough for the threaded part to pull through. Be careful not to go drill into the surrounds. It may be easier to unbolt the column from the dash to drop it down. You can buy replacements of these bolts. With these gone, the 2 halves of the locking mech will separate & you'll be able to turn the column again. Worst case is to cut off the locking mechanism from around the shaft, but then you'll have to buy a complete replacement...

you can plug back in the speedo cable without pulling out the cluster, but you'll need to remove the shroud attached to the dashbaord that runs below the steering column. Push the cable back through the firewall. Put the drivers seat as far back as possible, and climb into the car upside down (so your head is on the floor). Then feel around up the back of the dash in the general region of the back of the cluster. It's a fair way up (well at least for me with my short arms ) You're trying to find a square ended round knob sticking out. This is what fits inside the outer shell of the cable. It's a simple, but tight, push fit. Good luck

I hate the way that no matter what model, there is still at least one blanking plate on the dashboard... The only model I can think that wouldn't have any blanking plate: 85 model (cos carb with manual choke) wagon with central locking (so get tailgate lock switch plus rear wiper switch) electric mirrors air/con cruise control headlight washers front fog lights height adjustable air suspension trip computer

How it works: http://www.dirtyolbc.co.nz/community/topic/265-setting-the-keyless-entry-beeping-door-handle-thing/ The only thing I didn't like about that car was the auto trans. Cos of the auto, that EJ20T was fitted with the smallest turbo. But still wouldn't be on boost before the brakes overcame the stall converter Still loved the taillights with reverse lights both sides instead of one fog/one reverse. And then had "clear" indicators like the earlier sedans. Aus basically got a RHD US spec, not the JDM spec. So yellow rear blinkers with fog lights. The JDM rear lights were so much cooler.

I had a 93 JDM Legacy GT wagon. It had remote central locking, and also keyless entry. You could program the driver's door handle with a 4 digit code. It worked by lifting the handle a number of times (beep each time), then wait for longer beep (end of first digit), then repeat for 4 times to get 4 digit code. Bit of a gimmick, but very useful when locked the keys in the car And I learnt very early don't use high numbers, because you'd forget what number you were up to...

Write up on this please!!!!!

Oh yeah, the Koni thing is aftermarket, not factory. I've got inserts fitted inside my factory Toyota struts. Suspension shops can do this work quite easily (well, here anyway). They cut open the factory struts & then fit the inserts inside, bolted through the bottom with a locking sleeve on the top. Especially useful for the height adjustable struts on the earlier models